Our Impact

Fighting Litter for 20 Years

Our primary goal is to engage citizens to take responsibility for litter prevention, but our experience has taught us that we need our elected officials to support our initiatives, support litter-pickup infrastructure, and support law enforcement efforts.

We have helped more than 640,000 volunteers remove 73 million pounds of litter from our roads and natural areas. With your support, we can continue to make a difference in South Carolina.

Some of our achievements over the last 20 years include:

  • 73,400,800 pounds of litter removed from our roads and natural areas
  • $37,047,835 in cost avoidance to local governments
  • $7,400,000 provided in grant funds to cities, counties, and state groups
  • 1,200,000 students reached by our education programs
  • 35 Keep South Carolina Beautiful affiliates

We also have the Adopt-A-Highway program under our umbrella to help SCDOT. And, of course, none of this is possible with out you, our wonderful volunteers.

What’s on the Horizon

To mark our 20th anniversary, we will unveil new tools and new grants to help assess litter, prevent litter and track its reduction in our communities.

We are excited about the future of PalmettoPride. With the help of an active Legislature and engaged local governments, we are seeing our largest participation rates in our history.

Litter Reduction of 60% Since Founding

Litter is a cultural issue and one that is felt across the globe. In South Carolina, we have seen litter reduce by 60% since we were formed. While we have achieved these results, we have also seen a number of challenges across the state that makes litter prevention a more daunting task to both undertake and see real results. Our population has grown to 5 million. Our highways are under construction. Lifestyles keep everyone on the move. Volunteers are harder to engage. Information overload makes it difficult to make lasting impressions.

PalmettoPride will continue to instill pride in our state, one cleanup at a time. With our Legislature behind us and our mission at hand, we will change the landscape of South Carolina for the better.

Timeline

  • 1999 – Governor’s Task Force on Litter created
  • 1999 – Litter Trashes Everyone Marionette Show debuted
  • 2001 – PalmettoPride created, becomes a non-profit
  • 2001 – KABSC comes under the PalmettoPride umbrella as Keep SC Beautiful
  • 2002 – Palmetto Prideways created to support interstate litter pickup efforts
  • 2002 – Litter Busters Hotline launches
  • 2003 – First Litter Blitz held in Anderson County
  • 2003 – Keeping South Carolina Beautiful – A Curriculum Resource released
  • 2003 – First Francis Marion National Forest Cleanup held
  • 2009 – Litter-Free Games
  • 2012 – Adopt-A-Highway comes under PalmettoPride
  • 2018 – Litter Busters Hotline mobile app launched
  • 2018 – New Anti-Litter Curriculum released
  • 2018 – Litter Laws revised
  • 2019 – Cigarette Litter Prevention Program begins
  • 2019 – First Grab A Bag SC held
  • 2019 – One Millionth Litter Trashes Everyone Marionette Show
  • 2019 – First Leaders Against Litter Awards
  • 2021 – New State Constable added to Enforcement program
  • 2021 – First WATERGOAT installed in South Carolina

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